My son is a current LHP sophomore and plays on his HS JV team. The HS is a Div 1 4a school that was in the CIF semi finals last year and plays in a very competitive league and schedules always schedules top CA teams ( Orange Lutheran, Harvard Westlake, JSerra, etc. ) as non-conference games, so the area is in no shortage of top talent in this area and I'm very proud he is out there competing at this high level.
A little about my son....he's currently about 5'8, 140 lbs, 15 yrs old and is a great student. His GPA is currently 4.32 weighted and 4.0 unweighted. I have always been very realistic with him through all his years of travel ball and making the trip to Cooperstown, and instilled in him that he's gonna make his $ because of his grades and not baseball (given the realistic odds). His fastball currently sits at about 70 and tops out at about 73, with his change up at about 63-64. I'm still hoping he grows more these last two years and with his squats and long toss, he can get his velocity up to the high 70s by his senior year.
I know playing for a D1 is gonna be out of the question, so if he decides to go to UCLA or UCSB, it's gonna be as a student, but my question is are there some places/D3 schools out there that he may be able to play at being a slower crafty lefty? So far this Spring, he's made 8 appearances and in 10 innings of work, his ERA is under 2, his WHIP at .075 and his BAA is .071, so although he isn't the 6'2 flamethrower, he's effective at what he does.
If he keeps up this work will it be worth my time to look into some good academic D3/D2 schools? Locally, there is Occidental, etc, but I know he has interest in Hopkins, and both UCSD and Colorado School of Mines (both D2) schools. He's gonna tryout for a local scout team in the fall and I am looking to send him to the Stanford Camp or Trosky Camp next summer after his Jr. year. Thanks for all your help.